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Social media playing a role in Town Council campaign

Social media is emerging as a greater force in the town’s political campaigns, but it’s still no substitute for an old-fashioned handshake, candidates say.

Julie Araskog and Martin Klein, the candidates vying for a Town Council seat in Tuesday’s election, both have Facebook pages for their campaigns and are sending out email blasts, in addition to more traditional methods, to get their respective messages out.

Klein, who ran unsuccessfully against the late Norman Goldblum for a council seat in 2000, said electronic media is a direct and effective way to reach voters. But he said it is no substitute for one-on-one relationships.

“People want to feel connected to their elected representative,” he said. “Social media and email helps. But a lot of people want to see the face behind the email and shake hands.”

Klein said much of his time is spent going out to the “meet-and-greets” organized by supporters, talking on the phone and responding to questions via email.

“I’m not a big Facebook person,” said Araskog, who is making her first run for public office.

Klein and Araskog also are both relying on more traditional methods of spreading their message – newspaper ads and campaign fliers.

Both have said they are attempting to wage civil, issues-based campaigns while fending off negative and dishonest attacks from the other side.

Araskog said she’s been wrongly portrayed by her opponent as an actress, a profession from which she is retired. She has long been interested in charity work, and has focused exclusively on pro bono work since becoming an attorney three years ago.

Klein is chairman of the Planning and Zoning Commission, a board where he has served, off and on, since the 1990s. He also is a former member of the Code Enforcement Board. Klein said Araskog has sought to portray him as pro-development despite his record with the zoning board, which responded in the 1990s to complaints about “monster houses” in the North End by devising zoning tools that have limited the size and mass of homes.

Araskog said she keeps a tight control over her message. “Everything I send out is from me,” she said.

Some supporters have urged her to “go negative,” she said. “I have refused,” she said. “I would rather lose an election than put the residents through that.”

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